Pvt hosps ask for reduction in import duty on med devices

Mumbai: Leading private hospitals in the city want the customs duty on imported medical devices to be reduced in the forthcoming budget. They have made a representation to the finance ministry claiming that it will reduce the cost of healthcare in the city.

Their umbrella body Association of Hospitals (AOH), which comprises 52 leading trust-run hospitals in the city such as Lilavati, Nanavati, Jaslok, Breach Candy, PD Hinduja, has also written to the ministry asking for clarity on service taxes. "The import duty rates on medical equipment could go up to as much as 25%. While our country has excellent soft skills in the form of doctors and nurses, we are forced to import devices for want of indigenous production," said Dr PM Bhujang, president of AOH.

While the import duty on implants or prostheses is around 15%, the cost of surgical equipment, dental devices and apparatus used for radiations could be in the range of 24-26%. "There is an urgent need to bring down these fiscal rates to a single digit, if not total exempting them," Bhujang added. "It will help the hospitals bring down the treatment or diagnosis costs as the benefits of exemption will be passed on to the patients," he said.

Most of the big private hospitals in the city, however, are often accused of non-transparency when it comes to extending the mandatory free or subsidized services. They are supposed to earmark 20% of their beds for poor patients.